Photocatalysis: Ferric Oxide Nanomaterials

Environmental problems associated with hazardous wastes and toxic water pollutants have attracted much attention. Degradation of pollutants has detrimental belongings on the well-being of mankind which is the most important issue in today s scientific world. So, much effort have been pursued to purify water without intensive use of chemicals or production of toxic byproducts relatively at lower costs and to re-use wastewater. Therefore, it is of great interest to develop new visible light photocatalysts to extend the absorption wavelength range into the visible light region. Fe2O3 with band-gap of 2.2 eV is an interesting n-type semiconducting material and a suitable candidate to be used as a photocatalyst in visible light. It describes additional aspects of synthesis and physicochemical properties of ferric oxide based semiconductor photocatalyst with an aspect of photocatalytic degradation of organic impurities in water. We are hopeful that the field of photocatalysis will lead to resolve significant evils of the society including hygienic and safe water and methods for environmental remediation.

Autorentext

Dr. S.S. Shinde received his Ph. D. degree in Physics from Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India. His research interest includes nanomaterials, photocatalysis, solar cells etc. He has awarded Junior Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow from DRDO, New Delhi.